Description

Selaginella (5.8) offers liebacks, face climbing, off-width chimney climbing, and good ol' crack climbing. The route is sustained and committing and a real challenge for a 5.8 leader.

P1 - There are 2 potential starts, but the right side is cleaner and more aesthetic. The first pitch is 165' and ascends a series of hand cracks, fist cracks, and off-width cracks. Belay at the stump or continue left and up to the rap station.

P2 - Work your way up using your off-width and chimney skills to a belay about 120' up. Be sure to move left at the ramp!

P3 - Some more awkward climbing leads to a shelf about 110' up on a ledge.

P4 - For the final pitch you'll need an arsenal of skills; including hand cracks, fist cracks, liebacks, and face climbing.

Location

The route starts on the upper ledge above Munginella. Climb any of the lower climbs (Munginella 5.6, Commitment 5.9, The Surprise 5.10a, The Caverns 5.8, Try Again Ledge 5.8, or the Hanging Teeth 5.8). An alternate approach involves skipping the approach climbs by hiking the streambed west of the base using 3rd & 4th Class slabs. For the descent of Selaginella, jump into the stream of tourists working their way down the Yosemite Falls trail.

P2: Continue more or less straight up, staying right of a prominent leaning pillar. The final 20' of climbing involves a wild and exposed traverse left across protruding crystals. 200'. Belay in a small alcove.

P3: A few tricky moves off the belay, followed by moderate climbing to a large, prominent flake. Roughly 150'.

From the top, walk approximately 100 yards uphill to join the Yosemite Falls Trail. Allow a good hour of walking back to Camp 4.

Great day of climbing from Commitment to Selaginella! The offwidth sections of Salaginella reminded me why we didn't spend the day on Kor Beck-What a workout.

The exposed traverse is fantastic. Supertopo mislabeled the right-facing flake (as left-facing) at the top of the third pitch after the traverse so don't get confused or concerned that you're in the wrong place.

1st pitch was amazing. I did the awkward 5.9 variation to start it. I felt the entire route had a off width feel to it and worked my partner and I. I'd rate everything at the books much higher if it were cleaner and didn't have ants on about every pitch.

For at least the first pitch, and maybe the 3rd also, I would recommend wearing the rack (if using a gear sling) on the left side of your body. There is a fair bit of grinding on the right side that takes place and it was pretty uncomfortable and annoying having my gear in the way.

Climbed this route on 4/7/12. This was a great intro to long offwidth routes as I've traditionally shied away.

Pitch 1 is the most strenuous, though every wide section is soon met with rests. We brought a #5 camelot, placed it once but IMHO it wasn't really needed. One #4 should do the trick. Pitch 2 has a short bit of off fists, but it's over after 20 feet. The pitch 3 chimney protects well and has hands in the back.

I also made the pitch 3 traverse way harder than it needs to be by climbing way to high. Stay low, using the crystals and hand holds. There's a new bolt, which set back farther back. Use long runners to avoid drag.

Overall, it wasn't the most epic climb I've done, but I'm glad I did it as it opens the skillset to those mandatory OW pitches that come with most valley classics.

have climbed this route several times, including twice in the middle of february (2006 and 2013): dry, no lines, no crowds, led all pitches...

p1 (right var.): felt burly this time around. i'd say it's sustained, physical 5.8 - must be old, fat, and out of shape. awesome fat hands, with some OW, and a bit of awkwardness thrown in. nice break a little over half way up. #2 camalots rock, no need for a #4.

p2: straight up for about 60 feet or so, then step out to the left (nice big step) and angle up the ramp toward the trees. i've previously done the corner variation (under the trees and ear shaped flake), but opted to go straight up past the large triangular flake and then traverse back to the corner at the base of the chimney (sm. stance for belay). this pitch is definitely easier than the first, but less straightforward and has some potential route finding issues for the uninitiated.

p3: up the chimney (5.7-5.8), then up easy ground, underneath a big block/flake to the bolt and pin. the traverse out left is actually technically quite easy, there are big holds for your hands (don't go to high). rope drag can be a huge problem here, especially if you didn't put some long runners on gear placed the last 20'to 30' before the bolt. the traverse puts you on a cheese grater ledge with a couple of options. i've always gone straight up the middle at the rail and sm. flakes, rather than the burly/fat crack to the left. however, beware, falling here means decking. there's a good belay at the sm. tree about 20' up.

p4: go up the crack/shallow corner past a jutting flake (bottom broken off). i thought this was the crux and could easily be called 5.9 in many places. after this section trend up and left, passing a couple short corners (also 5.8). finally, a big traverse to the left and the base of a huge free standing flake. it's possible to wiggle inside or lieback the flake. having done both, i'd have to say the lieback is more pleasing, but also less forgiving if things go wrong. in either case i found this part rather easy (in comparison to the rest of the route).

overall: this is a pretty stout climb for 5.8; i carried a full rack with doubles up to a #3 camalot, one #3.5 and one #4. i placed the #4 once and the # 3.5 a couple of times. did not place any nuts...

Climbed this a few days ago and there was a VERY LOOSE block halfway up the first pitch. It is about 1' in height and as deep and wide as the crack. One would instinctively grab the jug as there are no convenient jams. We weren't sure how to safely extract the block so be very careful, especially with the two recent deaths on El Cap due to rock fall, this should be taken care of.